After discussions with Churchill Downs Inc., the URL kentuckyderbyhomerental.com has changed to louisvillederbyhomerental.com. (For six years, I’ve owned and operated Derby Home Rental LLC, which helps Louisville, Kentucky-area homeowners advertise their homes to rent during Derby weekend.)

For the next year, the old site will have a message directing visitors to the new one. It’ll take a little bit for search engines to digest and process this switch. We had record traffic last year—9,840 visits and 41,108 page views—and I will monitor the site’s search engine status and work to continue that growth.

No humility in this brag: when my Louisville friends who were heading east stopped at their local liquor store to pick up this bourbon order I’d placed, the shop’s owner said, “Whoever ordered this knew what he was doing.”

It feels a bit strange not covering Kentucky Derby on site (first time in five years) or being at Churchill Downs for some part of this weekend (first time in seven years). So here are the thoughts I jotted down when handicapping the race. (Human-interest lines don’t factor into my betting, but I suspect I’m in the minority on that one, so I included a few here.)

5. California Chrome—Not good breeding, already raced 10 times, due for a setback, will be over bet

6. Samraat—Poor breeding, doesn’t have the speed

7. We Miss Artie—Out of his league

8. General A Rod—Lightly raced, bred for distance, competitive, may not have the speed

9. Vinceremos—Horrible last race, but it was on Polytrack; does much better on turf; bred for distance

10. Wildcat Red—Outperformed his pedigree; super competitive

12. Dance With Fate—Doesn’t have the speed, hasn’t run on dirt this year

13. Chitu—Dam’s sire bred for distance, lightly raced, has the speed, may be out of his league

14. Medal Count—Bred for distance; great workouts; coming back off just three weeks rest and raced eight days before that; poor showing on only dirt race this year, but had a bad trip

15. Tapiture—Strong jockey-trainer combo, not great speed figures, sire breeds for distance, lost to two other in field last time out

16. Intense Holiday—Bred for distance, sped increased last four races, only raced three times this year

17. Commanding Curve—Lightly raced this year, likely out of his league, doesn’t have the speed

18. Candy Boy—May not have the speed, lightly raced this year

19. Ride On Curlin—Lots of wide trips might mean he’s used to the distance–or that he’s terrible in a crowd; well bred, and for distance; three straight faster races; over raced. Jockey is Calvin Borel, three-time Derby winner, which is good for him but bad for betters as he’ll be over bet.

I’m playing a few combinations, but Vicar’s in Trouble, General A Rod, Chitu, Medal Count, Intense Holiday, and Wicked Strong factor heavily on them. Wildcat Red probably would too, but I already have a $10 win bet on him at 60-1 from a future pool, so I’m covered there.

I also contributed sidebars on Kentucky’s favorite bourbons, bourbon 101, the best pours from the Bluegrass State, and where to enjoy a drink or two in Louisville.

Inspirato with American Express is a private, members-only destination club. Its 180-page glossy magazine is published three times a year. It’s distributed to the club’s members, sold on newsstands, and available for iPads and Android tablets.

My article led to hateful comments from Marx’s dedicated fans (since lost after Louisville.com switched its commenting system), as well as a nasty thread on a Richard Marx-dedicated online forum (since defunct, because of course).

About two weeks after I published the article, I received this email:

Zach..That last “anonymous” post wasn’t me [a commenter on Louisville.com claimed to be Marx], but…THIS is. Turns out, having zero to do with putting you in your place..whoever you are…I have these insanely loyal and protective fans who not only post online, but then alert this kind of mindless crap to the woman who runs my website (Yep, I do have one…makes me SO cool) and then I occasionally hear about it. I’ve weathered these kind of nasty attacks for over 20 years. Mostly by over-achievers like yourself, who have “Air Canada’s enRoute” as the headline of their resume.

I was actually looking forward to playing HullabaLOU but it was just one show and I was offered a tour in China that, while only 4 shows in country over 8 days, will compensate me in numbers that would fill you with even more envious rage than you already seem to possess, if that’s possible.

Oh, yeah..I’m also still really happily married to a kind and beautiful woman after 21 years; have 3 amazing sons who are great human beings; and I still not only tour and make my own records, but write and produce with a ton of great artists for their records. I love every second. I realize it’s not on par with being editor-in-chief of Louisville.com, but…

See, like or hate my music, I have, for 20 years plus, put myself out there and given 100% to my craft. I’m a pro. I never phone it in and I’ve never taken the 30 million records and slew of hits for granted. I wrote “Right Here Waiting,” which you denigrated, not to be a hit song, but a musical love letter to my wife years ago. Luckily my friends persuaded me to record it. People all over the world sing that song to each other. I just got a letter from a young lady whose husband was killed in Iraq and the lyrics to “RHW” were his screensaver. She wasn’t the first who told me stories like that.

So…upon looking at what’s available about you…and seeing your photo…dude, your photo is so grim…all I can assume about you is that you’re a bitter man who either never got a break, or never had the talent to deserve one.

Vivian will certainly grow up to be so proud.

Richard Marx

Vivian, by the way, is my daughter. Who was then not even 1 month old.

Using the sender’s email address, renegadestudio@aol.com, I did some online research (I forget the specifics) that made it appear likely the email was in fact from Marx. It wasn’t conclusive enough though to share publicly.

As I described in an article for Louisville Magazine, “What’s Mine Is Theirs,” the site helps Louisville-area homeowners rent out their homes during Kentucky Derby weekend. Last year homeowners made as much as $9,000 for a three-day rental.

Derby fans are already looking for homes to rent, so don’t delay.

Just $250 to advertise your home on this high-ranking website—no commissions that cut into your profits. Guidance for preparing your home and sample draft contact between you and renters us included.

Progressive friend who lives outside of Kentucky: “I’m really impressed with your state’s governor and his support of Obamacare.”

Me, a former resident of Kentucky: “Don’t be. In the five years I lived in Kentucky, healthcare benefits for state employees got worse and more expensive each year. And there haven’t been any raises in at least five years for state employees either. Beshear just sees Obamacare as a way of lessening the state’s financial obligations.. Also, he’s super conservative on other issues that matter to you.”

Progressive friend who lives outside of Kentucky: “Oh.”

Today, after Kentucky’s attorney general announced he would not appeal a federal judge’s ruling that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, Beshear declared that

he would appeal the decision

he’d use private counsel to do so

In his speeches, Beshear likes to evoke “Kentucky values.” In this instance, those principles sadly mean using an impoverished state’s money to defend discrimination.

Since 2009, I’ve overseen the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty‘s online presence and am on its board of directors. Here are KCADP’s blog posts that highlight Kentucky’s progress towards eliminating capital punishment, beginning with the American Bar Association’s findings from its two-year assessment of the state’s death penalty, which it released in December 2011: